. >>> and president obama and house speaker boehner mum on fiscal cliff negotiations. and a sign that a deal could be near. >>> new world order, the economy growing at an enormous rate in china, and in a few years it will surpass the u.s. what it means, coming up. >>> dozens of homes damaged in the south, ripping off roofs and damaging trees. more to come. stamp watch, straight ahead. >>> lots to talk about this morning. the next two hours, we'll talk with steve israel. jeff sessions, sandy levin, rahm emanuel and businessman javier paolomarez, ed burns, frankie monday easy, and chuck leavell. "starting point" begins right now. welcome, everybody. "starting point" this morning, angry, united. bracing for protests in michigan as the state is poised to become the most unionized right to work state. as many as 10,000 unionized workers expected at the state capitol to voice their disapproval of the measure. some of them teachers, two detroit area school districts shut down for the day as hundreds of teachers plan to join the protest. president obama brought it up during a